While the world pays more attention to Ai Wei Wei of China or Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, Vietnam has its share of political dissidents. The list is long and some are quite young.
Huynh Thuc Vy (pronounced Wyn Thook Vee), a beautiful girl with Facebook name Jane Hoang in Tam Ky city, Quang Ngai province, was only 24 years old when she decided to follow her father's path: to become a political dissident in communist Vietnam. Her father Huynh Ngoc Tuan paid a hefty price for his action: 10 years in prison (1992-2002). Vy was only 4 years old when her mother died then only 7 years old when her father was sent to jail. 17 years later, the country's internet community found out that this unfortunate girl, in compensation for her miserable childhood, possesses a romantic beauty, a brave heart and a powerful mind. She soon became a famous blogger with outstanding political/philosophical commentaries. There is a stark difference between how she looks and what she writes. Thuc Vy looks beautifully young, gentle and romantic but her writing is very mature, deep-thought, strong and eloquent. It's no surprise that this young and beautiful political commentator/life thinker easily won the hearts of the Vietnamese internet community. Then her younger brother, Huynh Trong Hieu, born 1988, joined his father and his sister as well. That makes them quite unique, because now they are known as a political dissident family.
Huynh Thuc Vy confirms that her father did not persuade her to follow his path, nor her choice to be a political dissident as a revenge for her father, but it is her love for her country.
On November 8, 2011, local police searched their house and took away 2 computers and 1 printer. After that, even their nearby relatives' internet connection is cut off. They are also banned to enter any Internet cafe. They are under surveillance around the clock. They are accused of "engage in anti-government propaganda". They can be arrested anytime. But anyone who lives or used to live in a communist country knows that aside from jail, the government has different ways to make you pay dearly for your political crime: on November 22, 2011, Quang Nam provincial government imposed on them a fine of 260 million VN$ (about US$ 13,000) for so-called "Internet law offence". This reminds us of the tax invasion charge on Ai Wei Wei. This fine looks funny on this jobless, homeless family (they live at a relative's house). The family is appealing the fine.
Huynh thuc Vy is an example of the fact that, though very few, not all Vietnamese youth are in a race for materialism and consumerism.

BBC Vietnamese language website reports about Huynh's family on this link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/vietnamese/vietnam/2011/12/111202_viet_bloggers.shtml

Please access this webpage for all Huynh Thuc Vy 's commentaries in Vietnamese:

http://forum4.aimoo.com/aitubinhdien/m/Trash-bin/Hu-nh-Th-c-Vy-Blog-1-515324.html#thucvy_22

Following is my English translation of Huynh Thuc Vy 's political commentary titled "Sự nguy hiểm của Truyền thống"


THE DANGER OF TRADITION

19 years have passed. My pain and loss have subdued. I do not want to remember those dark days, yet they continue to treat us as if they want the pain they inflicted on my family before to never go away. In spite of my miserable childhood, I grew up strong and those mental scars do not prevent me from loving life, loving others and having an ambition. Although to the three of us, the past was full of unhappiness and losses but we are the young trees that grew up strong and normal like the others.
I always remind myself that I must live with love and moral. I have tried not to let the terrible past turn me into a selfish and inhumane person. So far, I believe that I am not such a person. In fact, in all my writings, I rarely say details about my family situation, about the oppression and harassments that my family has suffered, but mostly about the systemic corruption of the regime, to show that what I wrote is from my good will and I, a young woman who advocates for freedom, do that not because they jailed my father and wrecked my family but because I want I and my children to live in a more respectable Vietnam. I myself understand that the Freedom-Democracy flower cannot thrive in a field of hatred and constraint.
Probably both those who love and care about me and those who have harassed me to protect their regime think that the reason that I, a young woman, always say things beyond my age is because I inherit the “tradition” from my father. No, I want to learn from tradition but do not want tradition to become a burden on my soul and my mind. Because a soul and a mind that depend too much on the values of the past will become stiff, lack of vitality and innovation. I do not want so. In fact, what my father did only inspires me to find out the value of freedom and gives me a concrete example of the bad and the ugliness of this regime, a so-called “Socialism”. This socialism ghost is still haunting a few countries in the world.
I think tradition does have its perils. I wrote about it in a new commentary, but the draft was confiscated by the police in the raid of my home on November 8, 2011. I feel that the tradition (be it good or bad, in different aspects, circumstances) weighs heavily on many of us Vietnamese and causes considerable consequences. Therefore, I would like to discuss about it in this writing.
(5th paragraph skipped)
(6th paragraph skipped)
Above is what I wrote in the robbed draft. I did not feel good at all when I wrote that. If the Vietnamese communists keep clinging to that “tradition”, it will be very difficult to democratize Vietnam. But recently I have a different view, newer and more optimistic. I received phone calls and emails from many self-claimed “nominal” communist party members and retired government officials. For long, I have been aware that my points of view are considered quite “extreme” and are not compatible with the view of people inside our country. I am sad and think about it quite often, because, in fact, I write for Vietnamese people inside our country, not for overseas Vietnamese who are enjoying freedom and democracy. But today, in bliss, I realize that in fact, many of my people do read my writings and do agree with my views. To me, it means that many long-time communist party members have boldly quit the deep-rooted family and own tradition to embrace a new thinking, new opportunities for our people. This is a very good sign for the road to democratize Vietnam. Freedom and democracy can only be built up by the most basic element of our society: each individual. Therefore, the more forward thinking each individual, the easier the democratization.
Back to my family story: the mainstream media reports that after release from jail, my father continues his anti-government propaganda and “persuades” me and my brother to join him. I do not need to comment on so-called “anti-government” subject. I just want to comment on the “persuading” part. I confirm that there was absolutely no “persuasion” from my father. My father only writes analyses of internal and external affairs, whereas my writings tend to be arguments and relate to theoretical subjects, advocating for freedom in general. An “induced accomplice” cannot be as eager as I am. My action is from my own knowledge, my own awareness, and is independent from so-called “family tradition”. I believe that only those who do not have enough knowledge and self-confidence let themselves be led by the nose. I am fully aware of what I say and what I do and am fully responsible for what I say and what I do. Those who are bound by tradition are forever jailed in the glory of the past, cannot be independent and cannot create a new value. So I am who I am, a young person, in the hunger of freedom, always takes every opportunity to advocate for it.
Although the recent police raid of my home brought back the scary memory of the terrors inflicted by the government 19 years ago when they arrested my father (sorry I cannot find a better word than "terrors") but I never hate you the rulers. You the rulers carried out the brutality and me telling the world about your crime (against humanity) does not mean I hate you the rulers. You the rulers are wrong systematically and fundamentally, you know that. And I think that I can only advocate effectively for the values I adore when I am not induced by anybody or not angry by the past pain you the rulers inflicted on my family. I believe in karma, therefore, the most important thing to me now is moral and knowledge, not hatred.
I tend not bring out my family story as an evidence of the government’s wrongdoing, because you the rulers have many more serious mistakes that need to be pointed out. To point out the fundamental mistakes of you the rulers is the best satisfaction for me. But if you the rulers keep making mistakes, keep violating human rights of those who speak up on behalf of conscience and collective responsibility, then those actions reveal the true nature of you the rulers.

HUYNH THUC VY (JANE HOANG)
Tam Ky, Quang Ngai
November 30, 2011.